Getting creative with carcasses

Artist Marisa Garreffa has spent weeks learning the tricks of the butcher trade for her new show.

The daughter of notable Mount Lawley butcher Vince Garreffa has decided to tap into her dad's trade, bringing her slaughtering skills to the stage.

Already a well-known director, actor and writer within the arts scene Marisa Garreffa's new one-woman show titled Cured comes with a disclaimer for theatre-goers warning the piece contains "nudity, raw meat and death"

Part performance, part cooking show, Cured is the story of a fictitious village called Night where Garreffa send.s up the funeral industry.

"Death is a bit of a rock star, it's Carnivàle meets capitalism - it's death as industry," she told WAtoday.com.au.

The story is told by a woman as she butchers a pig carcass, preparing the pork belly and ribs for a dinner party.

Garreffa's inspiration for the story was a friend who lied about having cancer several years ago.

"One of the things that interested me the most as my experience of mental illness increased over the years was recognising that that was at play but we [at 21-years-old] had no capacity to recognise it at the time and when you don't understand your response is outrage and lynching," she said.

"I wanted people to encounter images of death in a way they wouldn't normally have access to."

It's not a show for the faint-hearted as she spent weeks with her father in the coolrooms of Mondo Butchers learning the art of butchering.

Her father's only advice to the performance artist was "don't cut yourself".

"He taught me quite a lot of knife sharpening skills and I think that's why his idea was if you've spent all this time sharpening knifes for the love of God please don't cut yourself," she added.

The carcasses will be stuffed with a red wine and garlic stuffing and sewn-up to be cooked following every performance.

Meanwhile the extra "stunt" pigs will become meats that are cured, hung and dried like prosciutto.

Garreffa believes that this type of performance art, which aims to desensitise audiences, is putting Perth on the creative map.

"Art is really starting to erupt and I think Perth loves it. The Fringe Festival is a huge testament to how strongly Perth is embracing the arts and embracing really naughty, out there, challenging and exciting art," she said.

"The more work we can do like this, the more that other people in the city with an empty space might say 'yes come on do something in my space', the more that we prove this kind of work is awesome and people enjoy it and start conversations - then the more of it we can do."

Cured opens for a strict two-week season from May 17 at 834 Hay Street, Perth. Tickets available at The Blueroom.